Barnsley: Heckingbottom eager to step up recruitment drive

Neil Goulding

Barnsley head coach Paul Heckingbottom has stressed the need to make more new signings ahead of the new season.

The Reds have lost a string of top players during the summer, but have recruited some replacements.

But Heckingbottom wants more and said: “I’m really pleased with what we’ve got, but we need more.

“We know the plan for the next few weeks and all the way up to the first game, but we want more players in. Everybody knows I want more players in, I just want them in sooner rather than later.

“Otherwise we’re doing things in a makeshift way – and I don’t want to do that.”

The Reds drew 3-3 away to West Yorkshire outfit Guiseley in their first official pre-season fixture on Tuesday night at Nethermoor Park.

But Heckingbottom’s side were twice forced to come from behind and the boss knows there’s plenty room for improvement before the club’s Championship opener at Bristol City on August 5.

“It was a beneficial match for us,” reflected Heckingbottom. “We opened them [Guiseley] up lots of times and should have had more goals, so I was really pleased with the attacking side of things.

“But there were also a lot of things we don’t want to see out of possession. There were individual errors which led to goals and tactical things which are important we address. We need those things to come out in games so we can fix them.

“We need it to happen quick because we’ve only got four weeks until the start of the season. We need to have 11 players on the pitch who are all singing off the same hymm sheet and in sync. That’s our job.”

Meanwhile, a deal to bring sought-after striker Ollie McBurnie in from Swansea City could be completed sooner rather than later.

The two clubs were at loggerheads over the Premier League outfit’s valuation of defener Andy Yiadom, who they want to sign.

However, it seems as if a loan deal to bring striker McBurnie to Oakwell is now the best chance of a deal happening, even if Yiadom doesn’t go in the opposite direction.